Edited for brevityWASHINGTON (AP) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Iraq is a clear sign the newly empowered Democratic Congress is not going to abide by the notion that foreign policy is the sole province of the White House. While President Bush met with military leaders in the Oval Office Friday, she and anti-war Rep. Jack Murtha turned up in Baghdad.
And Jane Fonda showed up at the Washington MallÂ…what a coinkeydink.
The timing of the trip, from the Bush administration's point of view, couldn't have been worse. It came just days after the president asked Congress in his State of the Union address to give his revised Iraq strategy a chance to work. It also provided for dueling photo ops: Bush at the White House with his commanders and Pelosi and her congressional delegation in the heavily fortified Green Zone with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The lawmakers also visited U.S. troops on what they billed as a fact-finding mission and one to "thank our troops."
Doubtful the sentiments were reciprocated.
"They see blood is in the water," said Fred Greenstein, professor emeritus of politics at Princeton University. "It's sort of the idealized view: that politics stops at the water's edge and the president is commander in chief and the chief diplomat. But members of Congress see a president who is in his low 30s in approval, they need to be re-elected and they know what their constituents are for," Greenstein said.
HowÂ…umÂ…erÂ…whatÂ’s the wordÂ…oh yeahÂ…Progressive of them.
Pelosi has been a sharp critic of the administration's conduct of the war and has led a drive in Congress against his decision to send 21,500 more troops. "We stressed our belief that it is well past time for the Iraqis to take primary responsibility for the security of their nation," Pelosi said in a statement after she and the other six members of her delegation met with the Iraqi prime minister and top U.S. officials in Baghdad. "The delegation's view is that American forces should quickly begin to transition from a combat role to one focused on training, counterterrorism, force protection and controlling Iraq's borders," she said - in direct challenge to Bush's decision to add more troops.
See Logan Act Below
Murtha, D-Pa., who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee for defense, will have a big say in future spending decisions on Iraq. A one-time hawk on military issues, Murtha for more than a year has been one the most vocal advocates for a cut-n-run policy outspoken war critics.
A key piece of Bush's new Iraq strategy is increasing reconstruction efforts, with the U.S. pledging an additional $1.2 billion. Also, Bush is expected to send Congress next month a Pentagon request for about $100 billion more for Iraq and Afghanistan. While Congress has constitutional pursestrings control over war spending, most lawmakers seem hesitant to support a cutoff of funds that might endanger troops now in Iraq. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney say they will not budge from sending more U.S. troops to Iraq no matter how much Congress opposes the plan. The administration argues the money for the additional troops already has been appropriated.
Put that in your Hooka and toke!
It grates on all administrations when members of Congress or private citizens engage in unsolicited overseas diplomacy on their own. Unauthorized negotiations "directly or indirectly" with a foreign power by a private citizen is prohibited by the Logan Act. However, no one has ever been prosecuted under the law, which dates to 1799. And it is doubtful it could be applied to members of Congress. Still, some administration allies have accused four senators - Democrats John Kerry of Massachusetts, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania - of engaging in such freelance diplomacy by going to Syria in December to sound out President Bashar Assad on his intentions on Iraq and Lebanon.
And didnÂ’t that little junket that work out swell.
"We're glad the speaker will have a chance to hear firsthand from our troops on the ground as well as the Iraqi government," said Gordon Johndroe, a White House national security spokesman.